Tasty Thursday

 Happy Halloween!  Today's Tasty Thursday is both creepy and delicious.  I love the way these blood splattered petit fours with sugar glass look.  They're the perfect finishing touch to any Halloween dessert table, and will win you major kudos from your friends and family.

INGREDIENTS:

For the petit fours:
- 1 frozen pound cake
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Red food coloring

For the sugar glass:
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Make the glaze by mixing powdered sugar, corn syrup, water, and vanilla together in a medium bowl.
2. Trim petit fours into cubes and dip into sugar mixture. Let dry on a cooling rack for 30 minutes.
3. Use chop sticks or a fork to dot petit fours with red food coloring for a blood-splattered look.

4. To make the sugar glass: combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat for about an hour until the temperature reaches 302 degrees F.

5. Remove from the stove and spread onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Use an offset spatula to gently spread mixture.

6. Let sugar glass cool for about an hour, and then break using a mason jar or other solid object. Be careful though! It’s sharp.

7. Grab a glass shard and use a basting or other pastry brush to paint red food coloring on the edges.

8. Place “bloody” sugar glass into a petit four and repeat with remaining cakes.

Happy Halloween from a family of mad scientists!





Soiree :: halloween + chili cook off

 This weekend we hosted a chili cook-off and Halloween party for the kiddos.  The kiddos didn't disappoint, we had a watermelon, an ice cream cookie sandwich, a ninja turtle, & the little Man went as a mad scientist.  Playing off his costume, I created a mini dessert bar around the concept of a mad scientist's laboratory.  The dessert bar featured candy, 'bones' (pretzels with mini marshmallows dipped in white chocolate), and delicious smores dip.  Guests could take home their treats in mini treat bags that read 'Organs for Transplant'. The laboratory came alive with custom signs, a page from a vintage neuroanatomy textbook, skulls, vials, a doll's face in a mason jar, and a fake heart under a bell jar that sat on top of a copy of Grey's Anatomy (the text book not the TV show). 

 The chili bar included fries (for chili cheese fries), baked potatoes, cornbread, Fritos (for chili cheese nachos in a bag), mini corn dog muffins, cheese, chives, and cream cheese.  Everyone voted on their favorite chili based on the following categories: flavor, aroma, texture, and color, and the winner walked away with the coveted golden spatula.  I added burlap, red plaid, and golden pumpkins to the table to add fall colors and textures, and used wired baskets and a pail as serving baskets to add a rustic feel. It was such a fun way to celebrate fall with our friends, I can't wait to do it again next year!

{Chili Bar sign via}



Thirsty Thursday: Halloween Edition

How festive are these bloody shirley temples! It's a great drink to serve at your Halloween party this year.  And which kid wouldn't love to inject more blood/flavor into their beverage.  Happy Thursday!

Halloween Costume Ideas

Is September too early to be looking at Halloween costumes?  It's the little Man's first Halloween, and I can't wait to get him all dressed up.  I think we will stay clear of the traditional options and do something fun.  I'm a sucker for DIY projects, and the little Man's first Halloween costume will most likely not be store bought.  Here are some of our non-traditional Halloween costume front runners...

Baby Don Draper | Risky Business | Mini PSY | Old Man from UP | Batman

And if you have an infant he could always go as Prince George.

{via}

Happy Halloween

Check us out and all the other Chicago Blogger Network members in their festive Halloween costumes.  Happy Halloween!!


{Parker's Halloween costume}



Monday, Monday

Happy Monday!!  Hope you lovelies had a great weekend, and were able to get all dressed up for this weekend's Halloween festivities.  The Mister and I went as a "shotgun wedding".  One of the few options that worked with the bump, but it was a blast, and everyone loved the outfit.  Best of all, I only had to purchase the veil and the Mister only had to purchase that hat/wig.... cheapest (and most comfortable) Halloween costume.

On a side note we just hit, 1000 followers on Pinterest!  Who wants to be our 1,001 follower?

Friday Favs

Happy Friday Lovelies!!  We are going out tonight in costume to celebrate Halloween.  There are few occasions that you'll hear me say this, but sometimes I miss living in the suburbs.  I love dressing up for the trick-or-treaters on Halloween, and while condo living is great, we never get trick-or-treaters.  I can't wait to share our costume with you, have a great weekend!!



{Another one of my guilty pleasures, Pretty Little Liars, love their costumes}



~ Great last minute DIY costumes with great hair tutorials
~  Need some Halloween decor, costume, or food inspiration, check out our Halloween Pinterest board.
~ A Gilded Halloween inspiration board
~ In case you find your hand wandering over to the candy bowl this weekend, here's a look at some of the "healthier" options

Scary Movie Marathon

I love scary movies.  As kids we'd stay up watching scary movies with our mom, and then race up the stairs so that whatever was in the movie we just watched wouldn't attack us.  There's nothing like clutching the armrest, or when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, or checking under your bed before you go to sleep.  Here's a list of my favorite scary movies to date, perfect for a scary Halloween movie marathon.



{via & rnlMusings}

 And for some less scary and more festive Halloween movies, here are my other favorites:

~ Beatlejuice
~ Nightmare Before Christmas
~ Practical Magic
~ The Mummy
~ Hocus Pocus

Monday, Monday: Halloween Costume Ideas

Being pregnant there are only so many Halloween costumes that will one fit, and two not look tacky.  Here are some of our favorites for couples:



{A shotgun wedding}

 


{Juno MacGuff & Paulie Bleeker}





{Bowling Ball & Pin}

 


{Tom Hanks from Castaway and his Volleyball}

 Our favorites for the solo preggers lady on Halloween:
- Quinn Fabray of Glee - Celebrity Moms: Octomom, Snookie, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce...
- Pot of Gold
- Mister Potato Head
- Preg-O-Lantern
- Preggo Pasta Bottle
- Sumo Wrestler
- Balls of any kind: Magic 8 Ball,Disco Ball, Baseball, Basketball, Tennis Ball

Halloween Ponderings

I know it's August, and thus to early to start thinking about Halloween costumes.  But look at these kids they're so cute, and their parent's are geniuses!  Maybe I can dress my puppy up as one of these fabulous costume ideas below.


{via}



Happy Halloween from Hawaii

Happy Halloween!

{via}

DIY :: Dexter Slides & Halloween Coffins

I'm obsessed with Showtime's Dexter.  The Mister and I have flown through season 1 & 2, and we're currently half way through season 3.  They have some fabulous writers working on this show, if you haven't already gotten sucked in to Dexter, I suggest renting the first season.  Needless to say, when I saw this tutorial on edible/candy Dexter slides, I was in love, and I knew I had to make them.  They are the perfect addition to my Halloween coffins.  Sadly in my rush to get them made, I misspelled Miami.  Halloween fail.  Oh well at least people knew what they were in reference to, haha. 

Halloween Coffins:

I used old shoe boxes, threw on a layer if black paint, and wrapped the lids with black crepe paper.  I lined the coffins with pink tissue, and filled with treats.  Treats include mummy wrapped candy bars, a bat chocolate bar cover, Dexter slides, ghost marshmallows and other fun things.  I created tombstones outlines and embossed RIP in pink to match the lining!



{all photos via Me}



Spooky Dessert Table

 Love this festive and spooky dessert table!  How adorable are the coffins, individual ghost milk bottles, and that dead tree? The treats are beautifully displayed from the treat bags, candy apples, pumpkin mouse, and the spoonfuls of candy corn! It's a lovely way to have trick-or-treaters or your guests indulge in some Halloween fun.

{photos via Catch My Party}

Halloween Costume Ideas

Even though the Mister and I will be in Hawaii for Halloween, I still want to dress up.  Odds are I'll have to try and find something that works with a bikini.  Some cute couple Halloween Costume Ideas:

{via}

Something I can't wait to do with the girls:

{via}

{via}



{via}

Something that could work with a bikini: Black Swan Mask

{via}



Deathly Hallows Halloween

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, which means I am completely enamored with this Halloween dinner party with a Forbidden Forest feel. There are so many fabulous Harry Potter details that I don't even know where to begin!  From the remake of the wanted poster for Sirius, the Butter Beer or the PollyJuice Potion, to the beautiful owls... so many beautiful details for this grown up Halloween fete.

{photos via Hostess Blog}